Coach Scott Milanovich had a sense that his Toronto
Argonauts were ready to have a big game.

Then they went into Percival Molson Stadium and beat the Montreal
Alouettes on their home turf.

Ricky Ray threw a pair of touchdown passes to Chad Owens and
Toronto’s defence shone as the Argonauts downed the Alouettes 23-20 on Friday
night.

”Our guys had an edge tonight, we felt it last night in the
meeting room,” said the Argonauts’ first-year coach. ”These guys wanted it.

”We hadn’t played well on the road and we knew we’d have to come
in here and really play hard for 60 minutes to get this win because we respect
Montreal so much.”

Swayze Waters added three field goals, including two from 50
yards, for Toronto (3-2). The Argos became only the third CFL team after
Saskatchewan and Edmonton to win away from home this season.

Part of what had Toronto jacked up was that Milanovich was making
his first trip back to Montreal, where he had been Alouettes coach Marc
Trestman’s offensive co-ordinator and right-hand man the last four years.

And ex-Als like safety Etienne Boulay were also playing their
former team.

”There’s a lot of people (in Montreal) that I care about and
always will, but this was about the Argos, about us getting a win. Not about me
or anybody else,” said Milanovich.

Brandon London scored a TD and Sean Whyte had four field goals
for Montreal (2-3), which has not won on the road and now has consecutive games
in Winnipeg and Edmonton.

The crowd of 22,753 saw the Argonauts score on their first two
possessions to take the lead. Then both defences came up big in the second
half.

Ray passed for 236 yards in the first half, but only 44 the rest
of the way. Montreal’s Anthony Calvillo, still looking uncomfortable with a sore
left (non-throwing) shoulder, completed 25 passes for 317 yards, but found the
end zone only once against Toronto’s league-best pass defence.

The difference in the game may have been two turnovers — an
interception by Pat Watkins on Calvillo’s underthrown ball in the end zone late
in the first half and Brandon Whitaker’s fumble that killed a drive early in the
third quarter.

Penalties also hurt Montreal.

”I think we showed signs of being a very good team tonight,” said
Trestman. ”What stands out in my mind is we had a number of big plays negated by
penalties, both offensively and defensively.

”We had some sacks that were negated. We had two or three big
offensive plays and we went backwards because of penalties. And the turnovers.
We had two and they didn’t turn it over at all.”

The Alouettes have been a power in the CFL East since 1996, but
now find themselves in the unfamiliar position of having a losing record only
five games into the season.

”We’re not in a position we’re used to being in,” Calvillo said.
”It’s been a dogfight every week.

”Now the next game I worry about is Winnipeg. They’ve just got
their first win at home and it’s always tough there because their crowd is
crazy.”

Montreal was also set back by injuries. Trent Guy had 102 yards
on three kick returns before leaving with a rib injury. Whitaker was on fire
early, but left 10 minutes in with blurred vision in his right eye, although he
returned in the second half and ended up with 82 yards on 15 carries.

Toronto’s Cory Boyd was held to 51 yards on 14 attempts.

Still, the Alouettes were in the game in the final minute, but
Whyte’s last-second 54-yard field goal attempt fell short.

The Alouettes’ defence got little pressure on Ray and the veteran
shredded the home side’s man to man coverage in the opening half.

Whyte had a field goal on Montreal’s opening drive, but Ray
answered with a two-play, 70-yard drive — a 38-yard pass to Dontrelle Inman and
a 32-yard TD toss to Owens, who got behind Jerald Brown deep in the end
zone.

Montreal struck back with a drive capped by a 14-yard scoring
pass to London, only to see the Argos come straight back with a march that ended
with Owens’ second touchdown of the game on a 10-yard catch and a brief benching
for Brown.

Waters added two more field goals in the half.

The Montreal defence got more aggressive to open the second half
and the Alouettes had the edge in play, although came out of the third quarter
with only Whyte’s 46-yard field goal. After a Montreal single, Waters hit again
from the 50 for Toronto, but Whyte answered with a 33-yarder.

The Argos return home to face British Columbia next week feeling
they are improving as the season progresses.

”We just can’t seem to put two halves together,” said Milanovich.
”We played very well in the first half and then had breakdowns in the third
quarter and let it get close.

”We need to get back to work and find a way to put a full game
together.”

Topics

Next story

| Learn More

Discover content from The Globe and Mail that you might otherwise not have come across. Here we’ll provide you with fresh suggestions where we will continue to make even better ones as we get to know you better.

You can let us know if a suggestion is not to your liking by hitting the ‘’ close button to the right of the headline.